


Sticks and Stones

by OtakuSapien



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Bullying, M/M, One Shot, Short One Shot, mildly angsty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-11-04 07:47:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10986558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OtakuSapien/pseuds/OtakuSapien
Summary: Adam tries to study. Ronan gets into a fight. What else is new?





	Sticks and Stones

**Author's Note:**

> A revised version of an old line prompt from nerdfighterwhatevernumbers. (Bonus points if you can guess what the line was)

It was a hot, sunny Henrietta day and Adam had been waiting for Gansey outside of the administration building for the past 20 minutes. The past 20 humid, 85-degrees-in-the-shade minutes. He wondered if he should just go home. No, he couldn’t do that. They had made plans to explore Cabeswater after school today and he wasn’t going to just leave Gansey without saying anything. Gansey was talking to one of their teachers after history class, so he knew it was going to be a while from the start.

Adam was trying to get some of his homework done while he waited, but it was proving difficult. A group of boys were playing an improvised game of rugby in the middle of the quad, and even with his good ear turned away from them they were still much louder than they needed to be. It was the end of the day so no one was bothering to tell them to keep it down.

Adam was bent over, trying to focus all his attention on his Latin reading for the fifth time when he felt someone hover over him.

“ _Possunt magis molestus?”_

He looked over his shoulder to see Ronan, who was indicating the rugby players.

Turning back to his book he said, “Was the Latin really necessary?”

“What? You don’t want help with your homework, Parrish?” Ronan climbed over the back of the bench, perching on top of it. As he leaned over, skimming the book curiously, Adam could feel Ronan’s breath on the side of his face. Despite the heat, the warmth felt good on his skin. He tried to keep his eyes on his book.

“I don’t need any help, thanks.” It hadn’t come out nearly as annoyed as he’d intended.

Ronan leaned in closer, taking the book from his hands. “ _Possem legi mandavi_.”

Adam turned to protest and found himself less than an inch away from Ronan’s face. Ronan’s sharp, dark eyes looking into his. Ronan’s mouth opening as if he wanted to say something and closing again. Their fingers brushed as Adam tried to take the book back, making him shiver. He was hyper aware of both where they were, and of the fact that if he moved barely a centimeter his lips would be touching Ronan’s.

He didn’t know what either of them would have done if he hadn’t heard a faint call from across the yard.

Ronan looked up immediately, his intense eyes turning from enticing to menacing in a matter of seconds. Adam turned towards the voice. It was one of the rugby players- Bryce Montfort, a sophomore. The game had stopped and the other boys were standing around snickering.

“What did he say?” Adam asked, keeping his eyes on them.

Ronan was grinding his teeth. “You don’t want to know.”

Before Adam had a chance to argue, one of the other boys shouted, “Hey Lynch! Is he exclusively yours or could I buy him off you? $10 an hour match what you’re giving him?”

Adam felt his face burn. The rugby boys apparently thought this was hilarious because half of them were doubled over. What the hell kind people were they? At least when Gansey had insinuated Blue was a prostitute he’d done it on accident. It took everything Adam had not to go over there and fight them for fear of getting expelled. Ronan didn’t share that fear.

He was already charging across the field, ready to rip their throats out. Frankly, Adam was surprised he didn’t start literally breathing fire at them. Adam dropped his book and immediately ran after Ronan. Unfortunately, Ronan was faster. By the time he got their Ronan was already on top of Montfort. The rest of the team jumped in, pulling him off of their friend and getting their own blows in. Montfort was on the ground, moaning and holding his nose in pain. Despite the fight being five on one, Ronan was still holding his own. He broke free of the boy holding him and got a few more hits in before Adam reached them.

Adam skirted around the rugby boys and grabbed Ronan, pulling him away from the fight. Ronan whirled around, ready to strike, but stopped when he saw who it was. The second rugby boy came up from behind Ronan and Adam struck out, clocking him in the jaw. Adam pulled at Ronan, urging him to get away from the fight, but Ronan, stubborn ass that he was, refused.

“What the devil is going on here?” Oh no. All of the rugby boys turned in unison, something Adam may have found amusing under other circumstances. Ronan’s posture shifted, but Adam kept his hold on him. Neither of them needed to look to know who it was.

Richard Gansey III was striding towards them, followed by a very flustered looking European History teacher. The teacher was slight and struggling to keep up with Gansey’s longer legs.

“Well?” the teacher demanded, sticking out his chest and trying not to look winded. The rugby boys started pointing fingers immediately to Ronan, telling various accounts. “He came right at me!” “This guy’s crazy!” “My nose!” All eyes went to Ronan, who refused to look at anyone but Montfort.

The teacher crossed his arms. “I’d like to see you in my office. ALL of you.”

The rugby boys shot Adam and Ronan dirty looks, as if this was all their fault and they had nothing to do with it. As they all followed the teacher inside, Gansey fell into step with them.

“What happened?” Gansey asked.

Adam started to say something, but Ronan cut in. “Later,” he hissed.

 

The teacher was interviewing them all one by one. He was going through the rugby players first, which Adam found ridiculous. After six straight stories of hearing about how Ronan was a vicious neanderthal, how could he possibly listen to their side unbiased? Not that he would blame the teacher if they got suspended. The physical fighting had been started by Ronan, and Adam _had_ hit someone, defending his friend or not. Adam prayed this wouldn’t affect his scholarship.

Gansey was waiting with them. He hadn’t said anything since they sat down on the wooden bench outside the teacher’s office. The hall was empty and Gansey kept searching for something to focus on, eyes darting between his two friends. He clearly was trying very hard not to say something to them. The boy Adam had punched in the face, the one who had asked how much he cost, was sitting on the other end of the bench, trying to get as far away from him and Ronan as possible. As much as he hated their situation, Adam was glad that he’d had an excuse to hit that one.

The last of the other boys got called into the office, leaving Adam, Ronan, and Gansey by themselves in an empty hallway. Gansey stood up and paced in front of the bench a few times. Finally, he couldn’t take the silence.

“What were you thinking?”

Ronan looked away like a child being scolded, but Adam could still feel him burning.

“You’ve already gotten in enough trouble as it is,” Gansey continued, “and what’s worse, you got Adam involved!”

“That’s not his fault,” Adam protested, “I tried to break up the fight. They brought me into it in the first place.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Adam didn’t know how to answer. When he didn’t say anything, Gansey turned to Ronan.

“What does he mean by that?” he repeated.

Ronan looked Gansey dead in the eyes, as if daring him. He said, “They called him a whore.”

Gansey was taken aback. “In what way?”

“I mean those were their exact-fucking-words. Montfort called Adam a whore.”

“So you broke his nose?”

“Yes.” Ronan didn’t break eye contact with him once. His voice grew harsher as he spoke. “I tried to break his ribs, too, but those other dipshits got in the way.”

“That can't have been all they said," Gansey watched his friend, concern in his eyes. "There's more."

“You know, you're right," Ronan spat. "He said, and I quote, he ‘didn’t realize the scholarship kids needed to whore themselves out to-’” he cut himself off, no longer holding Gansey's gaze.

So that was the part of things Adam had missed. He suspected there might have been more, but Ronan was right. He didn’t want to know. He was already filled with rage at what he _had_ heard.

“Why the hell would you do that?!” Adam shouted at him, his anger finally letting loose. “Do what you want on your own time, but on school grounds? I could get suspended, or lose my scholarship. You were almost expelled before, do you really want to risk that again? You are not doing that again, do you hear me, asshole? Gansey got you out before, but what if he can’t do it again? Next time, just ignore them. As much as I hate it, we have to if we want to stay in school. Unless you want to leave here, don’t listen to them. Don’t you EVER listen to them.”

He was breathing heavily, Gansey and Ronan staring at him. He knew the teacher probably heard him and he should be embarrassed but at that moment he really didn’t care.

Ronan looked away and didn’t say anything.

“I can handle myself, Lynch. I don’t need you to, to…defend my honor, or whatever.”

“They deserved it,” he muttered.

Adam couldn’t argue with that. “Yeah. They did. Just…don’t do it on campus next time, okay?”

Adam slumped back in his seat, the anger fizzling out of him. _Just get this over with_ , he thought. He could probably claim defense, especially if Gansey spoke on his behalf. Ronan would need more help. There was a difference between actually defending your friend from harm and defending someone’s honor. Getting righteously pissed wasn’t a good enough excuse. He’d need more help, but they were more likely to keep him on than if it had been Adam. He was glad at least one of them had done something. Even if that something had been incredibly stupid.

“Hey, Ronan?” Adam said hesitantly. Ronan didn't look up. “Thanks.”


End file.
